A Journey in Silver & Gold
by xAmeliaPond
Summary: Lyra is 16 years old when Professor Elm asks her to run an errand for him. Soon, that simple errand turns into so much more. Join Lyra, her Rival Silver, her best friend Ethan, and her big sister Kris on their epic journey. Storyline based on the HeartGold/SoulSilver games. —- SoulSilvershipping & Questshipping
1. Journey's Beginning

Lyra woke up in her fluffy, Poké ball print bed. Tiredly, she stood up and walked over to her closet, looking through her extensive collection of clothes. After a few minutes of consideration, she decided on her favourite outfit – a red long-sleeved shirt paired with blue overalls, white socks that reached her mid thighs, and red shoes. She brushed her hair and pulled it into pigtails, then grabbed her yellow messenger bag and her oversized hat before she went downstairs to have breakfast. She was pumped to go and hang out with her best friend, Ethan.

When Lyra sat down with her breakfast, her mother came out from her bedroom."Good morning, Lyra! You're finally awake."

Lyra grinned. "It's only 9:30, Mum."

Her mother laughed. "I know, I'm just messing with you, honey. Ethan was just here, playing hide-and-seek with Marill. He said you two were going to hang out today."

"Yep, that's the plan," Lyra said, her mouth full of cereal. Her mother looked at her disapprovingly, but did not say a word about it.

"Also, Professor Elm, was looking for you. He said he had a favour to ask of you." She explained, taking Lyra's dirty dishes off her hands. "You should probably go see him now, so you can hang out with Ethan after."

Lyra nodded, getting up from her chair. She stepped outside the house, feeling the refreshing breeze of New Bark Town. She stretched her arms and yawned, when a rush of blue and white hurtled towards her, making her almost lose her balance. "Marill!" Lyra hugged the familiar Pokémon, then saw her ravenhaired best friend standing a few metres from her.

"Found ya, Marill! You know, Lyra's arms aren't a very good hiding spot." Ethan teased his partner Pokémon, who hit him with a gentle, playful Bubble attack. Ethan laughed, and Lyra handed the Water Mouse Pokémon back to it's Trainer. "Oh, I heard that the Professor wanted to ask you a favour. We can hand out after, alright?"

"Yeah, of course." Lyra said with a smile, before walking approximately one hundred metres to Prof. Elm's lab.

Before she entered the lab, Lyra noticed a boy about her age with strikingly red hair looking through the window at the side. She shrugged it off. _Probably just a fan, _she thought. Even thought Elm wasn't the most celebrated of Professors, especially compared to Kanto's Professor Oak, New Bark Town's carefree professor still had his fair share of fans.

Lyra opened the door to Prof. Elm's very clean, bright white lab. There were lab assistants working away, and a few Pokémon helping them with their research. She smiled when she saw Prof. Elm standing at the very back of the lab, talking to his head assistant, who was also Ethan's mum. "Good Morning, Professor!" Lyra said with a big smile and a wave as she made her way to where Prof. Elm was standing. "So, Mum told me you needed a favour?"

"Lyra, I've been waiting for you! Did you oversleep again?" Elm grinned, and Lyra rolled her eyes playfully. "How much do you know about my research?"

"You study Pokémon, and how they evolve, and whatnot, right?"

"That's right. As you know, Pokémon are carried in Pokéballs now. But before that, people walked with Pokémon, like Ethan does with his Marill. The advantage of Pokéballs is that you can have heaps of Pokémon. But, I believe that walking with your Pokémon may have its advantages also." Elm explained, looking dreamy, enraptured by science, as usual. "It could have something to do with how they grow or evolve…" he trailed off a little, going into a bit of a daze for a second, but he soon came out of it. "So, uh, I'm going to give you a Pokémon!"

Lyra gasped, grinning at Elm. "Really?"

"Yes. What I need you to do, Lyra, is to walk beside the Pokémon, to see if it creates a bond between you two. The machine over there has some Pokémon for you to choose from," Elm gestured over to a large metal contraption, on which sat three Pokéballs. Suddenly, a noise was heard from Elm's laptop, and he jumped, scurrying over to it. "Oh, an email!" He talked with so much excitement, as if getting emails was not a common thing for him. "Hm… Uh-huh… okay…" he mumbled as he read the email, making Lyra giggle a little.

Elm turned around swiftly and made his way back to Lyra. "I have this friend, that people call 'Mr. Pokémon'. He's always finding weird stuff and raving about his discoveries. Anyways, I got an email from him saying that he's found something really big! It might be another Pokémon Egg, but in any circumstance, we're so busy here." His eyes lit up, and he pointed at Lyra. "Ah-hah! I know! Can we count on you to go in our place?"

"Sure…" Lyra said, as Elm again waved his hand towards the contraption.

Lyra walked over there, as fast as she could without running in the lab. She picked up one of the Pokéballs, turning the cold metal around in her hands, before pressing the button in the middle to release the Pokémon. A small, rodent-like creature with red spots on its back popped out.

"Cyndaquil~!" It cried, and Lyra 'awwed'.

"Look! It's so cute!" she lowered her hand to pet it, but just before her hand touched it, the little Pokémon's back burst into flames, barely missing her. Lyra shrieked as she put Cyndaquil back in its Pokéball.

She picked up another Ball, and released whatever Pokémon was inside. "Totodile!" the blue crocodile Pokémon cried, its huge mouth foaming a little. It showed Lyra its sharp teeth, in a kind of smile. Lyra considered the Water type, putting her face down close to it's own. "Hi, Totodile."

A burst of cold water suddenly hit Lyra in the face, and she was left dripping wet. She laughed nervously, while Totodile jumped around. "Hah, um, Totodile, I don't think you're the right Pokémon for me," she said as she put Totodile back in its Ball.

Lyra pressed the button on the last Ball, and a small pale green Pokémon, with a darker green leaf atop it's head little buds around it's neck that formed a kind of necklace, popped out. "Chikorita!"

When Lyra saw Chikorita, she knew she had met her partner Pokémon. "Professor, I want this one."

"Ah, Chikorita, good choice," Elm said as Chikorita jumped into Lyra's arms, making both humans present laugh. "Some Trainers like to nickname their Pokémon, to give them a form of individuality from other Pokémon of their species. What do you think, Lyra?"

"Ah… I think I'll call you Rita!" Lyra decided, as Rita rubbed her head against her new Trainer's shoulder. Elm smiled.

"How do you like having your own Pokémon? It's not bad, eh?" The professor said. Lyra knew he had been a Trainer, when he was younger. "It can help you get to Mr. Pokémon's house. If, uh, Rita gets hurt, you should take her to a Pokémon Center, like the one in Cherrygrove City. Mr. Pokémon's place is just north from there. Good luck, Lyra!"

"Thanks Professor!" Lyra shouted to the professor as she began to leave the lab. "See ya soon!"

Ethan's mum stopped her before she left. "Hey, Lyra! Have these, they'll help you on your mission!" She handed her 5 purple spray-like objects, which she knew to be Potions, special medicine for Pokémon. "Your Pokémon will be weak at first, so use a Potion if you think it's in danger of fainting."

Lyra smiled at her friend's mother. "Thanks, Mrs. Hibiki." This time, she left the lab for real.

"Hey, Lyra!" Ethan sounded almost exactly his Mother when he said that. He ran up to Lyra with Marill right at his heels. "You picked Chikorita? It's cute!"

"Yep she is, her name's Rita." Lyra said.

"Why don't you show her to your Mum? I have to go… so, see ya later!" Ethan ran off home, along with Marill.

When Ethan was gone, Lyra saw that the red haired boy was still there, staring in the window. It was a bit creepy that he was _still_there. Lyra walked over to him, and she heard him mumbling, "So, this is Elm's lab…" When he sensed Lyra's presence, he jumped and turned around from the window. "What are _you_staring at?" he said with disdain, scowling. He pushed her out of the garden at the side of the lab and out onto the grass.

Lyra stuck her tongue out at the boy when he turned around and went home to show Rita to her mum.


	2. A Tour and a Disaster

Lyra thought about the red-haired boy as she walked home. _Some people can't just be nice. What a jerk. _ Why did he make such a big deal? She didn't even do anything to him, or even talk to him, but he pushed her over like a kindergartener did when another kid annoyed them in the sandpit. Her mum was sitting in the living room when Lyra walked in.

"Hey, Mum, I'm home~" Lyra said in a sing-song voice as she dropped down on the couch next to her mum. "This is Rita. Isn't she cute?" she plopped the Grass type onto her mother's lap. "Prof. Elm gave her to me."

"Aw, she is cute." Lyra's mum said as she tickled the little green Pokémon's head. Rita made a sound like a Meowth purring.

"Well mum, about that favour the professor wanted… he wants me to go to Route 30 and see some guy named, uh…" Lyra sighed. She couldn't believe she had forgotten the man's name! _Mr. Pidgey? Mr. Pikachu? Ah! _"Mr. Pokémon."

"Ah, I remember him, from when I was on my Pokémon journey." Her mum said dreamily. Lyra knew her mother missed travelling around with her Pokémon, but after she met Lyra and her sister's dad, she gave up being a trainer. But now that they were divorced, Lyra hoped that maybe after she left, her mum could start training again.

"Yeah, well he's friends with Prof. Elm, and he wants to show him something. But him and all his assistants are busy, so I'm doing it instead."

"Oh, it must be important!"

"It is.

"Ah, I forgot!" She rummaged in her pocket, and pulled out a pink, phone like device. "Your Pokégear back from being repaired. Try not to drop it again, okay?"

Lyra remembered how upset she was when her Pokégear had slipped from her hands and fallen down the stairs. The screen was completely shattered. "Alright." She said as her mum handed the Pokégear to her.

"Ah, Lyra, you should probably be off to see Mr. Pokémon." Mrs. Kotone said, hugging her daughter. Even though she was sixteen, she would always see Lyra as her little girl. "Be safe."

"I will!" Lyra yelled as she left the house yet again. She speed walked towards the exit to Route 26 when she heard Elm's voice call out to her. "WAIT A SECOND!" he shouted as he ran up to her. He was panting a little as he spoke. "I *pant*, almost completely forgot… *pant* I need to register my number in your Pokégear, just in case something comes up while you're gone."

"Alright," she said and handed her Pokégear to the professor. He pressed some buttons, there was a 'beep!' and gave her the device back.

"I'll make sure to call you, if anything happens alright?" Elm repeated, "I'll see you when you get back, ok?"

Lyra giggled at Elm's oddness. "See you, Professor." She made a few more steps, and she was officially in Route 26. This was the furthest she'd been from home without her mum with her. The route was patched with grass, and she saw wild Pokémon rustling around in the closest part.

With a deep breath, she took her first step into the grass. Rita was almost shaking with anticipation. They made their way through the first patch of grass without being attacked and onto the dirt. The next patch of grass looked to be empty until a wild Pidgey jumped up from the long grass.

Lyra's eyes widened and Rita jumped in front of her. "Yes, my first wild Pokémon Battle!" she said with excitement. "Uh, Rita, use… Tackle!"

Rita threw herself at the bird Pokémon, making it fall backwards, but it didn't seem very injured. Pidgey used the same attack, but Rita was unfazed.

"Use Tackle again!"

Rita repeated the attack, and it seemed to hit extra hard, because the wild Pidgey fell down, exhausted. "Wow! Good job, Rita!"

"Chiko!" Rita cried, jumping onto her Trainer's shoulder. They kept trekking through the grass, and there was a large patch where there was no long grass, but mostly flowers. They walked between some ledges, and back into some long grass. Here, Pokémon kept popping up, and Lyra and Rita kept defeating them, one after the other, until Rita was exhausted.

"Rita, are you okay?" Lyra asked, and the Pokémon nodded, unconvincingly, as she let out a whimper of pain when Lyra touched her head. "Here, I'll fix you up," she grabbed a Potion and sprayed it on the Grass type's head. Rita winced in pain, but quickly looked like she was feeling much better. "We should hurry. We don't wanna take all day."

The partner's walked past a couple of man-made gardens, and then saw the entrance to Cherrygrove City. Although not a big city, it was quite a bit larger than New Bark. Lyra quickly stepped into the new place, and decided she should make her way to the Pokémon Center. When she started to walk in the direction of her desired building, an elderly man stopped her.

"Oh, hello!" The old man said, sounding very energetic. "People call me the Guide Gent! You look like a rookie trainer, would you like a tour of the city?"

"Oh, I should be-" Lyra started.

"Ah, okay. So what did you say your name was again?" Guide Gent asked, interrupting Lyra, who felt rather annoyed, but said nothing. He was a kind enough old man.

"I'm Lyra…"

"Oh, hello Lyra! Now. Up here is the Pokémon Center!" He ran over to the red roofed building. Lyra could barely keep up with him! She'd never seen an old person run this fast! "You can heal your Pokémon here, and you can stay overnight."

"Here is the Poké Mart! You can buy supplies such as Pokéballs and Potions!"

"Up there is Route 30. There are many Pokémon Trainers up there, so be cautious."

Guide Gent ran to the water at the side of the town. "This is the sea, as you can see." He chuckled softly at his own pun.

He dashed down and across to a small cottage, and stopped. "This is my house," the elderly man explained. "As a reward for keeping up with me, take these!"

The man was holding a pair of red Running Shoes, which Lyra saw to be made by Hoenn's Devon Corp. "I bought these for my granddaughter, but now she decided not to become a Pokémon Trainer. They look to be just your size!"

Lyra smiled. "Ar-are you sure, sir?"

"Of course!" He almost forced her to take the shoes, which Lyra took.

"Thank you so much!" she said, beaming.

"Well, I shall be going inside now, I hope to see you again!" the old man waved as he walked inside his cottage. Lyra bent down and swapped her sneakers for the Running Shoes. They were so much more comfortable than her sneakers, and when she ran for a bit, her feet didn't hurt one bit! She decided to test them out by running to the Pokémon Center.

The Pokémon Center was huge, and there were so many people for a small town. In the middle was a large machine, used for healing tired or hurt Pokémon. Attending the desk was a pink haired nurse, who was smiling as she healed Trainer's Pokémon.

"You tired, Rita?" Lyra asked as they approached the counter. Rita shook her head, her leaf swaying, but Lyra decided she should get healed anyway, just in case there were any lingering injuries from the battles with the wild Pokémon. She withdrew Rita into her Ball, and handed her to the nurse when it was their turn.

"Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Center." The nurse said cheerfully. Lyra smiled and handed her Rita's Pokéball. "This will just take a few seconds…" the woman placed the Pokéball into the healing machine, which beeped. She pressed a button, and a little tune played, after which she took the Ball out, and handed it back to Lyra. "There, your Pokémon is all healed up. Please, come back any time!"

Lyra released Rita from her Ball and placed the Grass type on her shoulder. "Feel better now, huh?"

Rita smiled. "Chiko!"

"Great! Now, let's get on with this errand!" Lyra ran towards Route 30, and made her way up the path. There was a patch of tall grass, which she stepped into. When she was almost through the patch, a Pokémon attacked.

"Spinarak!" Lyra yelled. She did NOT care for crawly Pokémon at all, especially creepy ones like Spinarak. "Rita! Use Razor Leaf!" Riata flicked her head leaf and many sharp, tiny leaves flew out and hit Spinarak. It didn't seem to affect it very much.

"Ugh, grass attacks are weak on bug types!" Lyra said, wondering how she could have forgotten. Her sister, Kris, always made sure that Lyra knew what Pokémon types were good against others, or were weak against others. Big sis would not be proud of her right now. "Fine! Use Tackle!"

This attack seemed to be more effective. Spinarak fell back, but then got up and shot a Poison Sting at Rita. It looked like it hurt, but Rita was not poisoned. "Tackle it again!"

Spinarak slumped over, defeated. The partners kept on through the grass, and arrived at another big patch. After they battled their way through there, they saw two young boys, having an intense battle between their Rattata and Pidgey. Lyra giggled at how serious they looked. She went the other way though, and kept on until she saw a small house in a clearing.

"This must be Mr. Pokémon's house," Lyra mused, and Rita cried in agreement. They entered the house, to see a bearded man, who Lyra assumed was Mr. Pokémon and… Prof. Oak! The famous Prof. Oak was there, and he was in the same room as Lyra! She didn't look at him, as she thought she'd freak out and scare the guy, so she settled on talking to Mr. Pokémon.

"Ah, you must be the girl Prof. Elm sent. Lyla, is it?" Mr. Pokémon asked, offering Lyra a seat at the table _across from Prof. Oak. _

"Uh, Lyra."

"Sorry, my mistake. So, you're probably wondering why I called you here." The man went over to a glass cabinet at the other side of the room, and took out an egg. Ah, just as Prof. Elm had suspected. He walked over to you, and handed you the fragile egg. "This is a Pokémon Egg. I need you to take it back to Elm."

"Yep." Lyra said.

"Thank you, Lyla." Mr. Pokémon said. Lyra didn't bother correcting him this time. She was just about to leave when Prof. Oak spoke up.

"Oh! What's this? A rare Pokémon!" Oak said, studying Rita. "You must be helping Professor Elm's research!"

"Yes. Yes I am." Lyra said, trying to keep cool. She was feeling _very _star struck.

"I think I understand why Professor Elm gave you that Pokémon. You seem like you will treat your Pokémon with love and care. And you seem to be dependable. How would you like to help me out?"

"I-I would like that Prof. Oak."

"Wonderful! This is the latest version of the Pokédex. It automatically records data on Pokémon you've seen or caught. It's a high-tech encyclopaedia! I'd like you to have it." Oak held up a red device. You recognized it from Pokémon magazines you had read. It was Prof. Oak's most famous invention! He handed it to Lyra, who was shaking. She had to hold on to the Pokédex to make sure she didn't drop it. "Ah… look at the time… I have to get to Goldenrod for my radio show. Lyra, I have a feeling that is not the last time we'll meet... We should exchange numbers just to be on the safe side."

Oak handed you his Pokégear, and you handed him yours. You programmed your number into his address book, and squeed with delight inside. _Prof. Oak_ would be able to call Lyra, and she could call him! The device 'beep'ed, and she handed it back to the professor. "Goodbye, Lyra, I hope to see you again." He said as he left the house.

Lyra had to stop herself from fainting. "Lyla," Mr. Pokémon said, "I believe you should be off to give that Egg to Elm."

"Ah, yes." Lyra said, opening the door. "Bye, Mr. Pokémon!"

"Bye, Lyla!"

Lyra sighed as she left the house. Then, she heard a soft melodic 'beep'ing, and picked up her Pokégear. Prof. Elm was calling, so it must be important. She pressed the answer button. Immediately, Elm spoke.

"H-hello? Lyra? It's a disaster! Uh, um, it's just terrible! What should I do? It... Oh, no... Please get back here now!"

He hung up, leaving Lyra wondering what the hell was happening. But, it was obviously bad. She ran back to Cherrygrove, and out to Route 26, when she was stopped by the red haired boy from outside the lab.

He eyed Rita with disdain. "… You got a Pokémon at the Lab. What a waste. That's a Pokémon that's too good for a wimp like you. … Don't you get what I'm saying? Well, I too have a good Pokémon. I'll show you what I mean!"

He threw out a Pokéball, and a Cyndaquil appeared.


End file.
